term:

Trespass

trespass n

[Anglo-French trespas violation of the law, actionable wrong, from Old French, crossing, passage, from trespasser to go across, from tres across + passer to pass]
: wrongful conduct causing harm to another: as
a : a willful act or active negligence as distinguished from a mere omission of a duty that causes an injury to or invasion of the person, rights, or esp. property of another
;also
: the common-law form of action for redress of injuries directly caused by such a wrongful act compare trespass on the case in this entry
b : trespass quare clausum fregit in this entry

con·tinu·ing trespass
: a trespass that continues until the act (as of depriving another of his or her property without the intent to steal it) or instrumentality (as an object placed wrongfully on another's land) causing it is ended or removed

criminal trespass
: trespass to property that is forbidden by statute and punishable as a crime as distinguished from trespass that creates a cause of action for damages

trespass ab initio
: a trespass that arises upon a lawful act which because of subsequent unlawful or wrongful conduct is deemed under a legal fiction to have been trespassory from the beginning

trespass de bo·nis as·por·ta·tis
[-dē-bō-nis-as-pȯr-tā-tis, -dā-bō-nēs-Ä s-pȯr-tÄ -tēs]
[probably from Medieval Latin (trangressio) de bonis asportatis (trespass) concerning property carried off]
: a common-law form of action to recover for trespass involving the carrying off of one's goods by another

trespass on the case
: a common-law form of action to recover for another's wrongful act that indirectly causes one's injury called also action on the case case

trespass qua·re clau·sum fre·git
[-kwer-ē-klȯ-zəm-frē-jət, -kwÄ -rā-kla-sm-frā-gēt]
[probably from Medieval Latin (transgressio) quare clausum fregit (trespass) whereby he or she broke into a close (tenement protected by law of trespass)]
: a trespass that involves wrongful and tortious entry on another's real property

trespass to try title
: an action brought as a means of obtaining redress for a trespass to real property and determining the title to the property

trespass vi et ar·mis
[-vī-et-Ä r-mis, -vē-, -mēs]
[Latin vi et armis with force and arms]
: a trespass involving intentional infliction of injury on a person
vi : to commit a trespass
;esp
: to enter wrongfully or without proper authority or consent upon the real property of another
vt
: to commit a trespass against

Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.